'Nazi lab' trend comes to South Plains

Published: Wednesday, November 01, 2000

EMILY ROBINSONAvalanche-Journal

The recent raid of a methamphetamine lab in Meadow, a tiny town about 30 miles southwest of Lubbock, has further indicated what officials already suspected - the ''Nazi lab'' trend has hit the South Plains.

Lamesa police arrested Jason Wayne Sanders, 23, of Lubbock, and Matthew Alan Bayer, 21, of Meadow, on Oct. 20, following a tip-off from a Wal-Mart manager that the two had been trying to buy about 12 boxes of antihistamines in the store, said Capt. Andrew Martinez.

Martinez said the two ''had a run-in'' with the manager after they tried to make the purchase but were denied because of a federal law that prohibits purchases of more than three boxes at a time.

''He confronted them, and they started cussing at him,'' Martinez said.

Stimulants found in the medicines, ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, are part of the ingredients used to make methamphetamine.

Lamesa police pulled the two over at the 800 block of North Fourth Street about three minutes after the report was called in, Martinez said.

Police found several other boxes of cold medicines in the pick-up truck, along with paraphernalia and a small amount of marijuana, Martinez said.

Bayer has been charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a controlled substance, and Sanders has been charged with the same, along with failure to identify. Both were being held Tuesday in Dawson County Jail.

The two were arrested about 3:45 p.m., and that evening, Lamesa Police officers, along with officials from Terry County Sheriff's Department, Texas Department of Public Safety Narcotics officers and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration raided a farmhouse on a county road in Meadow.

Lonny Watson, the resident agent in charge of the DEA in Lubbock, said the lab was a relatively small operation, which is typical of many methamphetamine labs.

The labs are called ''Nazi labs'' because the method originated during World War II after German scientists developed a quick way to make methamphetamine for German soldiers, Watson said.

The ''Nazi lab'' trend began in Missouri and worked its way though the Midwest and down through Oklahoma before coming to the South Plains, Watson said.

Watson said an EPA-certified cleanup team out of Sherman was called in to collect all the hazardous chemicals.

Terry County district attorney Dwayne Pruitt said he expects to take the case to the grand jury later this month but is awaiting lab results.

Emily Robinson can be contacted at 766-8753 or erobinson@lubbockonline.com.